Educating Lakeville's Students With Fatal Examples of Drunk Driving

Every year our School Resource Officers, working with the Lakeville schools, the , Allina Ambulance and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) groups, help to organize a “mock crash” demonstration for the junior and senior students at one of our Lakeville high schools. This past Tuesday morning, a mock crash, organized by SRO Andy Hentges, was put on in the parking lot. The demonstration was followed by a very moving presentation by the father of three brothers who were killed in a crash caused by a drunk driver near Farmington several years ago.

The mock crash demonstration utilizes crashed vehicles and student actors to portray a fatal motor vehicle crash involving an intoxicated driver. The vehicles are kept draped with large tarps while the students come out to the site. The demonstration starts with the audio system playing the sounds of two vehicles crashing and then the tarps are removed, revealing the crashed vehicles and the student actors portraying injured and killed occupants of the vehicles.

The demonstration continued with the arrival of Officers Mike Lamm, Anna Limbeck, and Nic Stevens on the crash scene in their squads. The students see how the officers manage the scene and triage the injured and deceased crash victims. They continue to watch as the Lakeville Fire Department Rescue Squad firefighters and Allina paramedics arrive on the scene to render aid. The whole scene plays out before the students as Officer Rick Bussler and LFD Firefighter Rod Cook narrate the details of the crash scene to the students.

The students see the intoxicated driver arrested by the officers and the arrival of the Minnesota State Trooper to complete the crash investigation. The demonstration ends with the crash victims being removed from the scene in a hearse.

The mock crash demonstration provides a powerful experience for the students of the tragic consequences that making poor decisions about using alcohol and drugs can have for a young person. I have seen several mock crash demonstrations over the years and every time have been impressed with how intently the students watch the demonstration and listen to the presentations. Hopefully, the students will be impacted to make good decisions about using alcohol and drugs, so they never have to witness such a crash in real life.

Weekly LPD Snapshot

Sampling of LPD activity for the week of May 10 to May 17, 2012

Traffic crashes 10, Alarms 27, Animal Calls 46, Medical Emergency Calls 20, Thefts 21, Traffic Stops 190

Intersection Crash Sends Driver to Hospital

It seems exactly opposite of what you would expect, but most police officers will tell you that some of the worst crashes happen when the roadways are dry and the weather is great. That is what happened when Officers Nic Stevens, Doyle Cockrell, and Bob Doerfler responded to a report of crash at the intersection of 192nd Street and Highview Avenue one afternoon this week.

When they arrived, the officers found that two vehicles had crashed in the intersection and one of the crashed vehicles had rolled out of the intersection off the roadway. The officers found that the driver of one vehicle appeared to have sustained serious injuries and was transported to the hospital. Both drivers said that they stopped for the stop sign, but it was apparent from the crash that one of the drivers had failed to yield the right of way. The vehicles were towed from the scene and the cause of the crash remains under investigation.